"I'm not passive-aggressive" - Antonio Brown opens up on mental health and CTE accusations

Former NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown recently appeared on the increasingly popular podcast show "I Am an Athlete" and the conversation about mental health took center stage. Brown had this to say to Brandon Marshall, a former NFL receiver and co-host of the show, about mental health issues and CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy):

“The thing with football players' mental health And CTE is this: These guys are willing to do whatever it takes to make some obligative gain, but they're in the midst of those games. along that journey. They're being mistreated."

The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers player told TMZ Sports that he is not passive-aggressive and there is nothing wrong with his mental health:

"Why every time something bad happens, or how someone reacts, 'Aw, he's crazy, there's something wrong with his mental health. There's nothing wrong with my mental health. Someone told me to get the [expletive] out of here. I'm not passive-aggressive."

Antonio Brown and his prior comments on mental health and CTE

AB at the Memphis Grizzlies v Miami Heat NBA game

Brown made previous comments about mental health back in a 2020 interview with ESPN’s Josina Anderson, saying he felt like a caged animal:

"We all need mental help. From our friends, from the people we hang around, from the people we consult with every day. Yeah, we need mental help."

“I’m like an animal in a cage. Everyone just talks about me. I can’t go out my house in the private. Everything I do is in the face of people, face of someone talking, someone making an assumption about me.”

When asked by Anderson in the same interview if he had CTE, he said the following:

“Nah. If I had CTE I wouldn't be able to have this beautiful gym, I wouldn't be able to be creative. I wouldn't be able to communicate.”

For context, Brown was almost knocked unconscious by former Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict in a playoff game as a member of the Steelers during the 2015 season. This is the hit in question.

Anderson told Brown that there were various degrees of CTE, but it did not phase him, asserting he was not hit hard:

“I’m perfectly fine. I didn’t take that many big hits. I had like one big hit in 10 years. Anybody who plays this game, they’re going to get hit hard.

“He didn't hit me that hard. You know, I got up and walked off the field. We won the game. I was all right. You play the game long enough, everyone gets hit hard.”

AB has played 12 seasons in the NFL with three different teams: the Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, and the Buccaneers. In his nine years with the Steelers, he led the NFL in receiving yards (11,207) and was second in receiving touchdowns (74).

As for a possible 13th season for the 33-year-old player, will a team take a chance on Brown or have we seen the last of him on the field?